Treatment with arimoclomol, a coinducer of heat shock proteins, delays disease progression in ALS mice

doi:doi:10.1038/nm1021

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative condition in which motoneurons of the spinal cord and motor cortex die, resulting in progressive paralysis^1,². This condition has no cure³ and results in eventual death, usually within 1–5 years of diagnosis^1,². Although the specific etiology of ALS is unknown, 20% of familial cases of the disease carry mutations in the gene encoding Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1)⁴. Transgenic mice overexpressing human mutant SOD1 have a phenotype and pathology that are very similar to that seen in human ALS patients^5,⁶. Here we show that treatment with arimoclomol, a coinducer of heat shock proteins (HSPs), significantly delays disease progression in mice expressing a SOD1 mutant in which glycine is substituted with alanine at position 93 (SOD1^G93A). Arimoclomol-treated SOD1^G93A mice show marked improvement in hind limb muscle function and motoneuron survival in the later stages of the disease, resulting in a 22% increase in lifespan. Pharmacological activation of the heat shock response may therefore be a successful therapeutic approach to treating ALS, and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases.

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